This year Satya Nadella will attend the Microsoft Surface event. Predictably it will be Panos Panay, product manager and creator of Surface, who carries the full weight of the presentation, but the presence of the CEO of Microsoft anticipates the importance of the event. On October 2 at 10:00 ET (16:00 CEST) we will leave doubts, but as usual, we will review all the Surface news that we hope to see.
We are facing the biggest hardware event of Microsoft in the whole year and the most important conference of the company next to the Build, which is held at the beginning of the year and reveals the novelties related to Windows, Microsoft Edge or Xbox.
During the event last year, Microsoft took the opportunity to present news about the Surface Pro, the Surface Laptop, the Surface Studio 2 and new headphones. In the case of the Surface Pro 6, the news was very continuous, with a small update of the processor and new colors. Precisely for this reason, this 2019 is expected that Microsoft will take a step forward with a major renewal of its Surface convertibles and laptops. Together with the arrival of an innovative project that the company has been filtering progressively for months.
New Microsoft Surface Pro 7
As confirmed by different sources of retailers, the name chosen by Microsoft for the new model will be Surface Pro 7. Something that on the other hand is not surprising because it was the expected numbering. Microsoft would renew its Surface with different storage and performance options, as has been usual in previous years.
The input model would bet on an Intel Core i3 processor, which following the previous models would be of the Y series. For the more advanced model we would have an Intel Core i7 with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Chipsets that, according to devices filtered in Geekbench and 3DMark, would be from the 10th generation Ice Lake series.
As a novelty, this year the model with i5 would start with 8GB of RAM. It is not ruled out that Microsoft also presents a Surface Pro 7 with up to 1TB of hard disk, but retailers have not yet had access to that version.
One of the features that defines Surface is its removable keyboard. The design is one of the key points in these devices and it would not be surprising to find improvements in the keyboard cover ‘Type Cover’. According to the sources, Microsoft has a patent that indicates a thinner keyboard case than we have now.
In our analysis of the Surface Pro 6 we commented that we were still missing a USB-C port. The new Surface Pro 7 is expected to correct this point and add a USB Type-C port. One that, according to another patent, would be a magnetic mechanism for the charging port, in the style of the old Apple Magsafe system.
Additionally, Microsoft will introduce a new Surface Pen, code named Katana. That follows from the FCC document revealed by TheVerge, which also shows that the new Surface Pen would have wireless charging to be charged only by bringing the pencil close to the convertible, similar to what the Apple Pencil 2 offers.
The time between renovations of the Surface has been approximately a year and a half, so the new Surface Pro 7 could be delayed until 2020. As for the price, the Surface Pro 6 arrived from 899 dollars, but it is not ruled out that like It happened with the previous generation, there is also a price increase.
Surface Go 2
Another Surface that could receive an update is the Surface Go model. The most basic Microsoft convertible plays in a league halfway between the simplest tablets and the iPad. This Surface Go 2 would reduce its frames to offer a more compact design, although it is expected to maintain the same aluminum body. Unlike with the Surface Pro, the first model already had USB Type-C so it would not be a novelty in the new model.
As for the internal features, Intel has not yet announced a successor to the Pentium Gold 4415Y of the Surface Go. But according to a leaked benchmark, the new Surface Go would introduce an improved Intel Core M3 with 8GB of RAM.
An LTE version with Qualcomm 8xc processor
Microsoft is a company that works together with processor manufacturers and Surface are a key product to show how a Windows device behaves. One of the most widespread rumors in recent months is the commitment to ARM processors, in this case Qualcomm.
The appearance of a Surface with LTE based on Excalibur, codename of the Snapdragon 8xc SoC, a chip manufactured in 7 nanometers presented at the end of last year and with support for Windows 10 Enterprise is not ruled out. The philosophy of the Microsoft Surface event seems focused on the use of different processors, so this decision fits quite well.
Surface Book 3: 15 inches and version with AMD processor
According to rumors, the new Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 will feature Ryzen 3000 processors (Ryzen 5 3550U and Ryzen 7 3750U) inside, betting on AMD for the first time for their laptops and confirming that AMD and its Vega GPUs are ready for the first line of battle
However, sources close to Microsoft have confirmed to Trusted Reviews that the Surface Laptop 3 or Surface Book 3 will continue to have models with Intel inside, without specifying which model or generation will be introduced.
Up to six different versions of the Surface 3 laptop are expected, with a price range that would go from $ 1,399 to $ 2,399. In the most economical price range we could find the AMD chipsets, while in the more expensive models an Intel processor would continue to be introduced.
Not many more features have been filtered. The design of the new Surface Book 3 is expected to be similar to the previous model, with a 15-inch screen and different RAM and SSD options.
‘Centaurus’, a mysterious device with dual screen
It is not yet clear that they will show it at the Surface event, but it would be a very good opportunity to surprise with ‘Centaurus’, code name of the dual-screen folding tablet and compatible with Android applications that leaked a few months ago.
It is not the first time that Microsoft shows us such a device. It clearly reminds us of the Courier, that multitouch project that unfortunately did not come to fruition. In this case, as indicated by Hexus.net, we would have a convertible with a double screen, an idea that we have seen recently in laptops such as the ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo.
The product is rumored for the first half of 2020 and would arrive with two 9-inch screens in 4: 3 format, Intel processors from the Lakefield family and an adapted version of the software capable of running Android applications natively.
And if this device appears, it could be accompanied by new details about Windows Lite, the simplified version of the operating system for modest computers and compatible with Android applications. Its name is not clear yet and they are shuffled from Windows Lite, Windows Core OS or ModernPC. Regardless of the name, it seems clear that from Microsoft they want to expand the type of devices compatible with their operating system and ‘Centaurus’ would be their most striking project.
Headphones and other possible accessories
Microsoft expects, as happened with Amazon, a large number of devices. Last year they showed us their noise canceling headphones, while this year rumors point to other headphones, in-ear type, code-named Morrison.
In addition to these headphones, what we could find is a new portable speaker with Cortana, based on a patent leaked a few days ago. There would also be room for new keyboards, with a dedicated Microsoft Office button instead of the Windows button and a reissue of several classic ergonomic accessories.
The event will be held in New York on October 2 and we will go there to tell you all the news first hand.